The present disclosure relates to racks for carrying cargo such as bikes that may be mounted on a spare tire assembly behind a vehicle.
Many different types of racks are available for carrying cargo on the outside of a vehicle. Some racks are configured for attachment on top of a vehicle. Other racks are mounted on the rear of a vehicle, either to a hitch, trunk, or hatchback door. One type of rack is designed for attachment to a spare tire mounted on the back of a vehicle.
For example, Yakima offers a product known as the SPARE JOE bike rack that is a two bike spare mounted rack that straps onto the spare. A metal hoop wraps around the spare and a strap wraps below the spare. The Yakima Spare ROC is a two bike spare mounted rack that attaches to the vehicle's spare tire mounting bracket. A mounting plate is sandwiched between the bracket and the spare tire wheel. Lug nuts capture the spare tire and the mounting plate. The mounting plate has a stem that protrudes through the hole in the center of the wheel. The rack is attached to the mounting plate stem and is pressed against the spare tire above and below the wheel.
One of the problems with prior spare tire racks is that they are not versatile enough to fit different spare tire configurations. Often spare tire mounts are offset to one side or the other of the vehicle rear so the tire is not carried in the center of the vehicle rear. Bike racks typically should be centered on the back of the vehicle so that bikes do not extend beyond the sides of the vehicle. Another problem is that spare tire mounts of vehicles use different bolt mounting patterns. There is currently a standard five-bolt and six-bolt pattern employed on spare tire mounts of vehicles. One to five bolts may be arranged on the spare tire mount in the five-bolt pattern. One to six bolts may be arranged on the spare tire mount in the six-bolt pattern. Prior spare tire bike racks may not be adapted to fit both of these bolt mounting patterns. Additionally, some spare tire racks do not accommodate a big enough range of tire widths.
Accordingly, there is a need for new spare tire mountable bike racks that are adaptable to various different spare tire mounting systems and configurations.